The Next Generation
by Fayjee
Summary: Lyra's daughter Ali is all for adventure, but what will she do when she finds a window that the angels forgot to close? R&R please! Chapter 4 is finally ready!
1. Ali and Sid

"Ali!" Lyra called in exasperation to her eleven-year-old daughter, as she looked in horror at what used to be the kitchen. Everything that had been in a cupboard or a drawer was now on the floor or any other empty place. What in the world could she have been thinking? Thought Lyra, smiling despite herself. Her daughter unceasingly reminded her of herself at that age, when she was back at Jordan College. Pantalaimon, sharing her thought, nodded and jumped down from her shoulder onto the nearest counter to investigate the mess.

"What is it?" called Ali, her voice frustrated as if she'd been pulled away from some important task.

"Come here right now," hollered Lyra.

She watched as her daughter Ali walked into the kitchen, her daemon Sid strutting behind her in monkey form. She looked around, and then got a slightly guilty look on her face. The guilty look however passed as soon as it was there, and only an experienced pretender like Lyra could understand why after the guilty look, a completely innocent look replaced it. She also was able to see her daughters mind working furiously under the mask for a way to get out of this mess, something again, only Lyra would be able to see. And Ali knew it. As for Sid, he stood there, looking perfectly astounded at the mess.

"What is the meaning of this?" she asked, trying to put on the stern, motherly look and act serious, even though what she wanted to do was burst out laughing. Pan got down on the ground, and started walking in careful circles around Sid inspecting him carefully.

"I don't know," Ali replied, to all eyes looking as startled by the mess as Lyra herself was when she first found it.

"Cut the nonsense, Ali, what happened?"

Ali gave in, knowing she still wasn't quite good enough to fool her mother. "I was looking for something," Ali said carefully, "but I didn't find it,"

"And what were you looking for?" Lyra asked slyly, remembering the time she herself had hijacked Ma Costas, a gyptian lady's, boat, and had searched it tirelessly for the bung. They had nearly sailed all the way to Abingdon… She was getting sidetracked. "Well?" she asked again.

"I was looking for the…."

"What?"

"Oh never mind, I'll clean up." Pan was still looking harshly at Sid.

"You'd better hurry it up, I got to make dinner soon," said Lyra. She looked around the kitchen again, and sighed, defeated, "On the other hand, get your coat on, we're going out to dinner."

Lyra lived with Ali in a house on the grounds of Jordan College. It was a large house compared to most of the smaller urchin houses. The master of Jordan had built it for them new when he heard that Lyra was going to be living among them again, only this time with a daughter as well. The house was set inside the gates of Jordan, and surrounded by pine trees and oak trees, that mixed wonderfully despite there differences.

Ali, taking after her mother almost identically, practically owned the streets of Jordan College, and was highly respected among urchins, townies, and even a few from other colleges. And as for lying, she was an exact copy. It came easier to her than anything in the world, much to the dismay and amusement of Lyra, the master, and even some of the scholars who had known Lyra in earlier days. Ali was a whirlwind girl who was all for adventure. If she set her mind to do something, which she almost always did, she was going to get it. Except when her mother, Lyra, had a say in it. Lyra was her equal in every way, and not even the great Ali could do a thing about it. Ali had received little from her father what so ever. In fact, Lyra could not find one thing that resembled him at all, in appearances or personality. She had everything from Lord Asriel's commanding presence, to Marisa and Lyra's uncommon beauty though. Lyra found it rather strange actually.

Lyra tutored Ali in all the subjects that she had been put through in her duration at St. Sophia's school for girls (minus embroidering, which Lyra herself never could stand).

She had also been training Ali in aleithiometry. She didn't know why she chose to teach her that. It was actually the aleithiometer's suggestion. It had said 'teaching, daughter, and aleithiometer'. A meaning that to Lyra couldn't have been clearer. Ali didn't really take to it that well. She found it hard to sink into the state of mind, and meanings did not seem to come clear to her. But it was the only class that Ali attended willingly, so Lyra was happy. Ali had classes mostly in the morning, and had afternoon and evenings to reek havoc in all of Jordan College.

Lyra herself was now 27 years old. Ali's father, Brad McCarsky, was a professor from Holland that she had met nearly 12 years before. Ali had been an accident, really. Lyra had fallen in love immediately when she saw Brad, but it had only been an overnight romance, and Ali was the outcome. Unfortunately for Lyra and Ali, Brad died 3 weeks after Ali's conception in an automobile accident.

And what of Will? Well, Lyra's ability to read the aleithiometer was growing every passing day, the calm state of mind was becoming easier and easier to sink into, and her understanding was becoming much clearer. When she asked questions, depending on the question, she could understand about half of what it was trying to say.

She had gathered that Will was okay. Married to a nice young lady, and happy enough. They had two children and a dog. It also added in that strange way it always used to, that Will missed her tremendously, and sometimes even thought of reforging the knife. This last part always disturbed her a bit, but she knew he wouldn't. As for herself, Lyra still thought about him everyday. How couldn't she? But it wasn't a painful thing to think about anymore. She had gotten over the grieving, and now when she looked back, only the happy memories seemed to remain. Though, as Will himself had said, a memory is a very, very poor thing to have.

The next morning, after talking her mom, Lyra, out of bringing her along to some lecture about something or other that she promised would be interesting, Ali grabbed a coat and ran out the door. Her daemon Sid, now a lemur, ran after her. She ran full tilt toward the Jordan Gates, planning in her mind already for a day of fun. Their next attack was supposed to be on the townies, despite the uneasy truce they had made, and Lyra was not going to be late. It was supposed to one of the biggest battles ever, at least since the time when townies and colleger's alike had attacked the brick burners at the clay beds. Lyra had told her about it and had said it was fantastic. That was actually one reason Ali was so intent on getting to the town. She wanted to have a fantastic story to tell her mother when she got home.

She slowed down and began to walk, letting Sid catch up with her and climb to her shoulder as a monkey. He looked at her accusingly, and said,

"You didn't wait for me,"

"I know you'd have caught up, and besides, you wanna get there just like I do,"

"Yeah, " he said, and changed into a mouse to climb up in her hair.

They continued like that until they got to the gate and Sid began trying out battle forms, while Lyra kept walking.

"Be careful! Don't go getting inta too much trouble, Ali, ye hear!" called the security guard from his post as he opened the gate. He smiled to himself, remembering the days when he had said the same things to Lyra in her childhood.

"I won't," she yelled back, again breaking into a run.

By the time she reached the rendezvous point, in the ally behind the drug store, she was breathless. Sid, in the form of a mini dragon, was perched on her shoulder. She ran up to Mickey, a kitchen girl, and asked what was going on. Mickey immediately explained that the battle was off. She said that George and Beffer, two of their best warriors, were gone to the next town, and that it would have to wait until their return. After making sure there was nothing she could do to get the battle going anyway, she sullenly walked back towards the house, going over with Sid anything else they could do to fill their day.

"We could go swimming," he suggested, knowing that Ali knew that he meant in the creek behind their house. The creek was long, longer than even Ali had explored thus far, and it twisted and winded through woods and fields, far beyond Jordan property, as far as Ali knew. It widened and deepened in many places, providing numerous swimming holes for her and any lucky kids who came across it.

"Alright," she agreed, and began to run yet again to work off some of her built up energy she had been saving for the fight. They reached the usual swimming hole, the widest and deepest she had found this far, and Sid jumped down from Ali's shoulder onto the ground and changed into a frog. Now that Ali was near the water, she realized just how hot the day was getting. The water was tantalizing, and she wanted more than anything right then to just jump in, but she hesitated.

"Wait," Ali said, "Lets go farther,"

"Farther?" Sid asked, surprised, reverting to a hummingbird to buzz by her ear. They had never gone farther down the creek than this before.

"Yeah," she said

"Why?" he asked.

"Because we've got a long day ahead of us, and we might as well,"

"Fine by me," he said, but she noticed that he too was glancing back down at the water too.

So farther they walked. It seemed like the creek was thinning out, it was getting shallower and skinnier, and she was about to say that they should go back, but then it began to widen again. Just a little, but it did. Then all of a sudden it widened into a huge deep pool. The water was nearly clear, showing off its depth, probably over 10 feet. Its bottom was covered in large rocks, swaying water plants, and a whole maze of tunnels in the bottom rock. It would be a wonder to explore, and they would be the first to do so.

Lets go in, Sid thought to Ali, and Ali nodded, stripping down to her under drawers, and sitting down on the bank with her feat in the water. Sid, wasting no time, jumped in as a frog again, and once there, became a minnow, swimming round and round waiting for Ali.

Ali slipped into the pool, treading water, and relishing the coolness that was now enveloping her. Sid nipped her playfully under the water, then turned round and joined a school of minnows that were darting about. She ducked under the water, gazing around her, her short strawberry blond hair waving around her face. From under the water the scene was amazing. Tall underwater plants with small red blooms, over five feet high, all over, created a kind of underwater forest. Tall rocks a little taller than the plants were sprinkled here and there. But most amazing was the bottom. It was a network of caves. Bridges of rock crisscrossed over openings and tunnels that lead deeper into the ground.

Finding herself short of breath, she swam to the surface, climbing back up onto the large shelf of root that served as a bank to the pool. She found that Sid was already there, frog formed, sitting in the curve of a root.

"It was amazing, wasn't it?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah," he replied, "what did you think of those caves?"

"I thought they were great," she smiled, "I think we know what to do for the rest of the day,"

Without any more delay they both slipped back into the water, and dived into the nearest tunnel. The tunnels were like a goldmine for Ali and Sid. Their bottoms were covered in tiny animals such as crawdads and clamshells were plentiful. In the sides of the caverns there seemed to be a luminescent glow. It came from tiny rocks covering all the surfaces. They whole thing looked as if it came out of a fairytale, it was amazing.

Three hours later Ali and Sid were back on the bank, adding even more to the pile of treasures that they had already collected.

"Shouldn't we go back soon?" asked Sid, looking at the setting sun in the sky.

"Just one more cave," Ali said, sad to have to leave at all.

So they went in one more time. The tunnel the followed seemed to be much longer than the others, and when it finally did end, it opened into a large cave. There was something different about the water though. It was colder, and had a different taste to it. It tasted like the ocean. Ali had been to the ocean on two other occasions, and knew the taste well. Sid became a glow fish a illuminated the cave. That's when she saw it. Ali saw something then that she had never seen before. She swam towards it and examined the edges closely. She swam back to the surface for a breath, then came back down to look again.

The thing she found, it explained why the water tasted salty, and it flabbergasted both Ali and Sid. Upon further investigation, she realized she had found something to tell her mother about after all. It was a window. A window, except with no glass. A window that lead into the ocean, into the ocean of what Ali was sure beyond doubt of another world.


	2. Going Through the Window

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters, I don't own Phillip Pullman, I don't own… You get the point.**

**Sorry I didn't really have an intro last time, it was my first fic, and I didn't get how to upload it (dumb huh?) Anyway, R&R please, and be harsh! I want to know what it is I'm doing wrong. **

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"What was it?" Ali asked Sid on their way back to the house.

"I don't know," Sid replied with as much of a confused expression as she herself was wearing.

"Should we tell mom?"

"Yeah, I think we should, she may know more about it," he said, then added, "and, then can we go through it?

She had been thinking the same thing, and just shrugged.

"I don't know," she finally said, "but it would be pretty cool!" she added with a little more enthusiasm.

They walked in silence for the rest of the trip, and arrived home as the last rays of sun were sinking below the horizon.

"Where have you two been?" asked Lyra accusingly, walking out to meet them.

Ali was just getting ready to tell Lyra about the thing they found, when Sid thought to her, Don't yet. She looked at him questioningly for a moment, but then gathered her wits about her, and said,

"Oh, just in town," answering her mothers question.

"Well, you'd better come in, dinner just got ready a minute ago,"

They followed her into the house, and went through the usual evening routine. It wasn't until they were in bed that night that they dared talk about it.

"Why didn't you let me tell her?" Lyra asked Sid, who was curled as a squirrel around her neck.

"Because, I was just thinking," he said, "that we shouldn't tell her, or go down there at all," he paused, "I don't like it…"

"Of course we're gonna go down," she said matter-of-factly, "but we don't have to tell her about it." She paused, and then continued, "Actually, I don't think I want to tell her, I want it to be a surprise," "Lets go down, and once we know what it is, we'll bring her too," she finished, and looked to Sid.

"I guess," he said warily, knowing that Ali was on to something, "but I still think we should think about it more,"

"Okay," she said decidedly, "We'll go down there tomorrow after classes,"

"Wait," he said, "I thought we were going to think about it!"

"I already did," she said pompously, "and we'll go down tomorrow,"

Knowing nothing more could be done to change her mind tonight, Sid simply nodded in consent, and drifted towards sleep.

When Ali woke up, she felt excited. She lay in bed a moment, trying to remember what was so exciting, and when she did, she jumped out of bed and woke up Sid. She hurried and threw on some clothing, telling Sid, who was still half asleep, to hurry up. They rushed down stairs together, only to remember about her morning classes. They would have to wait till the afternoon to go through the window.

But at least there was going to be aleithiometry today. That was her favorite class. It made the waiting go by quicker. She suffered through Social Studies, Math, and Science, before aleithiometry.

Lyra didn't know the least about her capability with the aleithiometer, and Ali planned to keep it that way. She always made a face while sinking into the state of mind, and pretended to seem confused about answers, when really, she understood them better and quicker than Lyra. The aleithiometer came very easy to her, almost as easy as lying, which was saying something.

For one thing, her mom had been teaching it to her since she had been able to say 'aleithiometer'. She had nearly memorized half the books, and the other half were pretty easy to figure out.

So the aleithiometer was handed to her, and the familiar feeling of comfort and security came upon her. Though she didn't let the confused look leave her face for a moment. She made sure to seem as uncomfortable as possible, so her true ability would be concealed. She didn't even know why she felt she had to hide it; it was just a felling she had.

She went through the lesson, asking the questions that Lyra instructed, and during breaks playing around with it herself. But she didn't play too much. Like her mother, she had learned of the aleithiometer's moods.

Finally lessons were over, and Lyra left to go shopping.

"Lets go," Ali said, shoving a few items into a dull green duffle bag.

"I don't know," replied Sid, "Do you think we really should?"

"Of course," she said again, in the same tone she wore last night, as she checked the contents of the bag; A change of clothes, a couple sandwiches, and a few other necessities. She was about to leave, but she faltered. She paused just outside her mother's room, and considered a moment. Then she went in a retrieved something from a small box and shoved it too the bottom of the bag.

With that, she called to Sid to follow, and stepped out the door.

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Lyra got home and began to put the groceries into the icebox. She hummed a tune that she didn't remember learning absentmindedly, her thoughts on Will. She was remembering when they first met, how she had had an immediate liking for him, even though her whole being had told her to mistrust him.

She knelt by the icebox placing things where they belonged, then decided she would ask the aleithiometer about Will again. She hadn't for a while, and she had gotten better. So she stood up, closed and latched the icebox door, and went to her room, the tune in her head forgotten.

She went to retrieve it from its place in the box on her dresser, but when she looked, it was not there. It was gone. She looked to see if she had left it on the table where Ali received her lessons, but it wasn't there either.

Then another thought struck her, Where was Ali? It wasn't uncommon for her to be gone this late, so why did Lyra worry, but she did worry. She had a horrible feeling. Then it struck her. She didn't know where the thought came from, but she knew as surely as she knew that angels existed, that Ali had taken the aleithiometer and left. Where to, she didn't know, all she knew was that she wasn't going to come back for a while, and that she must be found.

Ten minutes later she was knocking anxiously on the door to the master of Jordan College's office. By this time the poor man was cripple and weak, but he was the best master they had had, and he was planning on working as the master until the day he died.

"Oh, Lyra, how are you?" he said, opening the door to see her standing in a coat and boots, her hair tussled, and an anxious look on her face.

"Ali's gone," she said franticly, "and she's taken the aleithiometer!"

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**So, how was it? Read and review please!**


	3. The Other Side

Hey everyone! I don't own any original characters, ideas, blah blah blah. 

**I appreciate all the reviews, and I hope you'll like this next chapter! Review please!**

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Ali waded through the shallows of the other world's ocean, halfhearted waves lapping at her thighs, Sid sitting on her shoulder as a wet raccoon. Her short, knee length, plaid skirt was glued to her legs, as was her off-red shirt to her chest. Her chin-length hair was clumped and sopping around her head. She was dripping wet as she finally reached the hot, sandy beach.

Sid jumped down from her shoulder on to the sand, and jumped out of the way as Ali tossed the soggy duffle bag up towards him onto higher ground. Ali reached the place where the bag had landed and picked it up again, carrying it with her until she reached the shade of a single Palm Tree, set forward from the rest of the tree line. There she planted herself on the ground, cross-legged, and dug in the sodden contents of the bag for the sandwiches.

After several aggravating seconds of removing the plastic wrap in which the sandwiches had been secured in to keep the water out, she took a bite of one of the sandwiches, and looked around for Sid. Sid, who was crab formed, abruptly changed into a sparrow and hopped over to her.

"Look!" He motioned her to look farther along the beach, about a quarter mile away. There on the beach, sun tanning and swimming, were people.

"Oooh, people!" she said excitedly, popping the last of the sandwich into her mouth, and getting up to dust herself off. Ali, who by this time was relatively dry, bent to pick up the duffle bag, and began walking towards them. Sid, catching up with her, flew to her shoulder. He fidgeted with excitement, bouncing up and down.

"Stop that!" she said irritably to Sid, something about the crowd was nagging at her. Something was missing, she decided, as they drew closer. Something like… Daemons! There were no daemons! There were no seagulls hovering over the people, no dolphins splashing around in the water next to the swimmers.

But how could there be no daemons? She thought to herself reasonably, nonetheless halting in her tracks.

"Look," she whispered to Sid, "Where are the daemons?"

He gasped, clinging to her shirt, drawing himself close to her as the realization struck him as well.

"But… Well…" he stammered, even though he knew they were both thinking the same thought. All the children at Jordan (and all over the world) had heard of the Night Ghasts, and The Breathless Ones, who were people without their daemons. It was horrid, just awful to think about. These people seemed to be alive okay though, but it still didn't stop Ali and Sid from crouching down behind a bramble thicket, wishing they hadn't come so close already.

The children seemed to be playing a game in the water, and the adults were lying on long chairs and towels, tanning themselves in the warm sun or seeking shade under large colored umbrellas. It was a nice picture, except there were no daemons. No daemons… No daemons… How could there be no daemons? Well, obviously, there weren't any, but the people seemed all right.

Ali, looked to Sid and said, "Lets go to them,"

"Go to them!" he sounded shocked at the idea, "But what about all the stories…?"

"Never mind the stories," she interrupted, "they seem all right, don't they?"

He made several protesting noises in his throat, but eventually (very hesitantly) nodded, and climbed to her shoulder. Exchanging a resolved glance, they continued towards the crowd about fifteen feet away. At first, none seemed to notice their presence at all, but eventually people began to look their way.

Ali and Sid stood there for a moment, looking right back at them, when one of the women came up to her and spoke.

"Where's your mother, deary? Is that you pet monkey?" she added at the end, gesturing towards Sid.

Pet monkey! Both Ali and Sid thought in disgust. Well, at least they learned that these people didn't know a thing about daemons. Which also meant that Sid wasn't going to be allowed to change in front of them. These people would most likely freak out if they saw him change.

"Uh… Yeah!" she lied hesitantly, then more firmly, "I'm Jessie, and this is my monkey Drake. My moms farther up the beach, she said I could explore for a while before lunch." She added the last part as a way of answering the un-asked question of why she was there alone.

"Oh, well, be careful," said the lady, "and have a nice day," she added, before retreating to her beach chair. After that, nobody seemed to be interested; they went back to ignoring her.

Ali and Sid, taking the hint, looked around at the other scenery. There was a path walled by waist-height grass, winding up towards a parking lot. They could see carts parked in the parking spaces, and a small building, which Ali assumed was a restroom facility of some kind. After following the path up to the parking lot, they saw a sign by the road, which read, "Tennerville Beach Spot" in large, block like, black lettering.

They investigated the building, which proved to be just what Ali had suspected (much to her relief, having not gone properly since they had left that morning), and continued up towards the road. Once on the road, they discovered why it was known as the "Tennerville" beach spot. A half-mile down the highway, there was a town.

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Walking down the sidewalk in the town in this other world was so incredibly different from Ali's Oxford that it was scary. There seemed to be all these confusing rules and regulations, not to mention that nobody had a daemon. Like at her Oxford, there were street crossings, but there was some invisible system. The carts would start, then stop a few minutes later to let the people pass. After the people had gone, the carts would start. However, neither Ali nor Sid could figure out any sort of pattern.

Before they had entered the town Sid had changed into a dog to look less conspicuous, for it didn't seem like many people in this world walked around with pet monkeys. This proved to be a smart thing to do, for no one looked at her in that strange way, and she seemed to pass unnoticed.

Ali approached a street corner. All the cars were stopped, and she decided to go across. Tentatively she stepped out onto the road, and when nothing happened, she stepped out further. She was about halfway across when…

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Jessica Mitford had never been a great driver. In fact, the first thing she had done when she had gotten her license at seventeen was rear end an old couple on their way to church. Now, at nineteen, she was no better at it. She had never really been taught how to drive properly, though. Her dad was a scientist who spent most of his time in the lab, and unlike all her friends, she had never received driving lessons from her "daddy".

She was now sitting in her car at the intersection of Main Street and Fairway, intently watching the traffic light. Her mom had just given back her driving privileges with the Saturn, and she was being extra careful not to lose them again. The light changed green, and automatically her foot pressed gently on the gas. She pressed gently on the gas before she looked up. If she had looked up before she drove, she would have seen a small girl in a plaid skirt and red shirt, a dog walking beside her. When she did look up, a split second after her foot hit the gas, she immediately jammed on the break, wincing at the sound of the squealing brakes, and the girls body thudding to the ground.

She sat there a moment, too paralyzed by the fact of what she had just done to move or think. When she came too, she jumped out of the car and began to run around to the front of it, when she saw something. Something that stopped her, yet again. The girl's dog had just… Well… "Changed" into a monkey. Yes, that was the only word that she could think of, "changed".

She stood there, staring, as the dog, or monkey as it was now, limped to the girl and tentatively nudged her face. Then the people started coming, none of them having seen what Jessica had, to see if the girl was all right. She watched as the girl stood up, and politely declined any help from the crowd, insisting that she was fine, and that she didn't need a ride home. Jessica was still standing there, looking shocked, when the girl looked over at her. A look of something registering on her face past briefly, and the girl looked at the monkey. Her mouth moved into the words, 'She saw you', as she gestured for the monkey to look at Jessica. It was one of the strangest things she'd ever seen. She was about to walk towards the girl when…

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Will was walking down Fairway Street. It was a great day. The weather was nice, a perfect day for a swim actually. And he had been promoted. Angela was going to flip when he told her, and considering the weather, he decided that to celebrate he would take her and the kids to go swimming. Yeah, he had it all planned out. A smile touched the corners of his mouth at the thought of how happy the kids would be, and he knew that Kirjava, who was keeping pace beside him, was thinking the same things.

That's how his life was before he heard the screech of breaks, and the thud at the corner of Main and Fairway…

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Ali got up slowly, trying to get a grip on her shaking body again. She declined the gathered peoples offers of help, repeating that she was only a couple blocks from home, and that she was fine. She waited until all the people were gone before her attention was able to stray to the cart that had hit her in the first place. She looked towards it, and the girl that now stood next to it.

She knew the moment she saw the girl that she must have seen Sid change form. The girl looked utterly bewildered. She mouthed the words to Sid, who nodded mutely, looking ashamed. She saw the girl begin to approach when…

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Will whipped around towards the sound of the commotion, Kirjava's back arched, her fur on end. He looked in time to see a small girl laying face down in the center of Main Street, several people gathered around her. There was a monkey beside her… A monkey! Yes, a monkey was holding onto her hand. People were crowding around so that he couldn't see her face. He saw her stand up and the people disperse, though he didn't know why for he was still too far away to hear their voices. Finally he caught a glimpse of her face. It was Lyra! No, no, he thought to himself, it couldn't be. The girl was far to young, and yet the similarity was enough to bring dampness to his eyes for a moment. But just for a moment.

But what was the monkey…? 'It's a daemon', Kirjava thought to him. In this perspective, everything made a little more sense. But, once again, only a little. He…

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A man walked out in front of Jessica. He walked towards the girl. Jessica, who was still too far away to hear their low-toned conversation, had the strangest feeling that something incredibly important was going on between them. But she just couldn't tell. Feeling that she was not needed, though her curiosity was completely unsatisfied, she walked back towards her car. Her driving privileges would be revoked again, she though dismally, taking a seat, and starting up the engine. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad though, she thought, as she drove away from the girl, dismissing the situation completely, thinking about what her friend Hannah would say.

(0)

He walked up to the girl. The girl appeared to tense as she saw Kirjava, taking a minor step backwards.

"Hi, I'm Will," he said, wondering if she recognized Kirjava for what she truly was. Then, as if on cue, her monkey daemon leaned up to her, tugged her shirt, and whispered something in her ear.

"You got a daemon?" she asked in an untrusting tone of voice. "Nobody else here's got a daemon."

"Uhhh," he stumbled, wondering how he should explain himself. However, Kirjava took over.

"Yes, of course he has a daemon, I'm Kirjava," Kirjava said this to both the girl and daemon, speaking clearly. "But as you can see, we can't talk here, in the open… In this world." She added the last part on the end as a risk, thought Will. She's taking a wild guess in assuming the girl knows about the other worlds, he thought severely.

"Yeah," said the girl, "nobody here seems to know much about them here, do they?" Will noticed that the untrusting tone had still not left her voice, despite the revelation that Kirjava had just given her.

Will found his voice, "Come to my apartment, no, on the other hand, follow me. We can talk where we're going,"

With that, giving her no time to argue, he began to walk away, towards the Tennerville Pier. He had been about to bring her to the apartment, but Angelina and the kids would be there, and her needed to talk with this girl privately. There would be no one there to bother them this time of day at the pier, not to mention all the old fish shacks along the wayside. Yes, the Seaside was the place.

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Ali had no feeling or idea that she could trust this man, but he did have a daemon, and he knew about her other world. She was going to decline his offer to talk with him, but he turned on his heel and began to walk away before she could get out a word. She opened her mouth a couple of times automatically, as if trying to respond. She was, at the same time, admiring him for his tact with the conversation. What choice did she have? Ali, ignoring a warning glance from Sid, began to follow him across the street in the direction of the ocean.

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Well, what did you think? How was it? Sorry if it was a bit choppy, the way it cut off to change points of view. Well, Read & Review please.   
Lulu Fae: No, this was my first fiction, though I hope to write more, and thank you. 


	4. Meet Will

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't updated for a while. I've had a bad case of writers block. Anyway, read and review please!

**Oh, and I don't own any original characters or anything.**

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A little girl sat on a swing. Around her children played, jumping rope and playing ball, but all this passed her by, unnoticed. She sat there; eyes slanted slightly downward, her long black hair falling over her forehead, as if gazing at something interesting on the ground by her feet. Shouts and cries of happiness flew passed her, emanating from the children on the playground who were oblivious to this silent cry. Cry of What? That was the question people should have been asking, but they didn't. Instead, they labeled "queer", and teased. But this girl didn't seem to notice the shouts and jeers coming from the other children either. She continued to stare at her shoe.

She didn't talk to the other children, she never had. In truth, she talked little anywhere. The teachers didn't know what to think of her. Most children were more outgoing in kindergarten, but not her. She never had been. They had seen her behavior with the other children. They had tried to get her to mix and play among them, but their attempts had failed. There seemed to be a strange sadness in the way she sat alone, letting everything wash over her. Maybe they would never understand this.

"Tara, honey? Are you all right?"… "Don't you want to go play dear?" These words entered her ears, but she made no notion to respond. Perhaps she didn't want to? Perhaps she just did not understand them. Maybe it was the same for the teasing… "Tara the queer!"… "Your such a weirdo, Tara!"… But no one would ever know. Neither did she smile, the teachers noticed. Not to the world at least. Who knew what she smiled about in her mind, if she did at all.

But she did smile. A smile, rare and brilliant and trusting, but the teachers did not see it, or the cause of it: Her brother Benjamin.

"Tara!" Benjamin called across the playground, having come to pick her up. It had been the last day of School for Ben. Summer break was there, and it was a wonderful day for a swim. He wondered if dad would take them swimming that afternoon, as he walked across the playground to Tara, his younger sister.

He had recognized, when he was younger, that Tara was different from other children. She had a depth to her, unlike her peers. This fact did not weaken his feelings for his sister, if anything it strengthened his protective feeling over her. He now gazed at her, taking in how her long, straight black hair fell forward, covering half of her face. She looked so fragile, he thought. She looked so small, in her dark blue jeans, and yellow blouse. He looked fondly at her a moment longer before saying anything.

"Tara, ready to go?" he asked gently, approaching her on the swing set. For it, he was rewarded by one of her rare, brilliant smiles.

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The sun was setting over Lyra's Oxford, and mothers all over were calling their children in for dinner. Not this particular mother, though. Instead, Lyra was sitting, head in hands, in the chair opposite of the master of Jordan College. She had told him her story of Ali, and her feeling of Ali's sure danger, three times over, and he was now sitting quietly, his mind working swiftly and efficiently under his shroud of wrinkles. His bushy eyebrows creased lower over his eyes as he studied the smooth surface of his mahogany desk, wondering exactly what to say to Lyra.

"Lyra," he said at last, focusing his attention once more, "are you sure of this feeling, this feeling that Ali will not just return late?"

"Absolutely!" she said for the millionth time, no longer trying to hide her exasperation in her voice.

"Then we, obviously, must find young Ali,"

"How?" said Lyra, more curiosity in her tone now than anything else.

"Well, we shall have to contact your witch friend, Serrafina Pekkala, and any other help we might find, then we must look for her."

"Yes," she said, her voice set, "yes we shall,"

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Will stood in the shadow of a large loading crate by the dock, Kirjava at his heel. He was taking a second look at this girl, now that they were in private.

"So," he said, "Who are you?"

Ali was also taking a second measure of this man. Nothing about him seemed dishonest, so she went out on an edge. She figured that, since they lived in different worlds, it couldn't hurt to tell him her real name. "I'm Ali Silvertongue," she said after a moment, "and you are…?"

She was telling him the truth, but she was forcing herself to, thought Will. He decided that if she was going to honest, then so would he. "I'm Will Parry," he said this calmly, though his heart had skipped a beat at the hearing of Lyra's last name. He couldn't help himself, so he said, "Are you related to Lyra Silvertongue?

He knew mom! Ali and Sid both thought. How could he know mom. Well, he knew about the different worlds, and he had a daemon, so it shouldn't be surprising that he might know Lyra, but still…

"Yes, I am, in fact," she said warily, "Do you know her?"

"Yes," he said, "I know her," Then he added, "How are you two related?"

"She's my mother," said Ali getting more and more uncomfortable with the conversation. "How do you know her?" She asked.

"I met her in passing…" he said vaguely, yet making sure to end his sentence with a note of ending to it.

"How could" Ali began, but he cut her off. Will, for the first time looking up, realized how late it was. The loading crate's shadow, which they were shaded by, had grown quite long, and looking up he found that only a sliver of sun was still showing over the horizon.

"Listen," he said, "I gotta go," he paused. He wanted to question this girl farther, much farther. If this truly was Lyra's daughter, then he had a million and one questions he needed to ask. "I want to talk later though. Can you meet me here at the same time tomorrow?" It was about 6:00 o' clock now, he thought. He would have about a half an hour after work before he needed to be home tomorrow, and he could talk to her then. He was about to ask her if she needed a place to stay but she interrupted.

"Okay," she said, "I'll meet you here then," Ali also wanted to ask this man, Will, further questions, but she wanted to consult the aleithiometer first. She could tell the man was about to say something else, but she knew what it would be. Ali just wanted to be alone right now to talk with Sid and the aleithiometer, so before he could say anything, she walked away. She walked around the loading crate and out of site. She walked a few crates down the shore, then down a long hallway in between the lines of crates. She was looking for one that was open. She found one that's door was partly open fairly quickly, and stepped inside.

It was dark, but dry and roomy, about the size of largish storage shed. It's metal walls, which were cool to the touch, felt good under her fingers. After her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw that in the corner was a stack of empty boxes.

With nothing better to do, and her eyelids feeling heavier and heavier, she made her way to a wall and sank down to the floor. Soon she was asleep.

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Will sighed. She had done exactly what he himself had done. She had walked away before he could say anything at all. Well, Angela would be wondering where he was, and dinner would be ready soon. He turned around and began walking home.

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**So, how was it?**

**Lulu Fae: thank you very much!**

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	5. VERY IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ

**SINCE IT HAS BEEN SO INCREDIBLY LONG SINCE I HAVE UPDATED THIS STORY, I AM RE-POSTING IT UNDER MY NEW ACCOUNT.**

**I AM SUPER DUPER SORRY TO ALL OF MY READERS WHO I PUNKED OUT ON BEFORE, SO IT WILL BE UP AGAIN, ONLY THIS TIME IT WILL BE CONTINUED!**

**ONCE AGAIN, I'M VERY SORRY.**

**THE NEW TITLE IS:**

**THE SIMPLEST OF LIGHTS**

**AND I WILL BE STARTING FROM THE BEGINNING AGAIN, RE-POSTING THE CHAPTERS ONE BY ONE, BUT QUICKLY.**

**ANYWAYS, IF YOU EVER FORGIVE ME…**

**THANK YOU!**


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